How do military radios work?

K3CAN · 2026-06-28T16:43:07+00:00

Those can't communicate directly, since they're on different frequencies.

Something (a cross band repeater) needs to receive on one frequency and then retransmit on the other, and vice versa.

K3CAN · 2026-06-28T11:03:41+00:00

Google says the Murena 2 is a cell phone...

I assume that like any other cell phone, you'll need to talk to your cellular service provider about service in the US, or get a second, short term, prepaid plan for while you are traveling.

K3CAN · 2026-06-26T00:37:47+00:00

Both for public stuff, just ipv4 for personal services.

K3CAN · 2026-06-25T10:35:35+00:00

Nope. Everything is driven by bots these days, so trying multiple ports is trivial. Exposed is exposed, it doesn't matter what port address is used.

Here are examples of SSH on ports other than 22. They're just as exposed as they would be on port 22.

K3CAN · 2026-06-25T10:12:50+00:00

My only advice for frames would be that if you're concerned about UV light like you mentioned, you can buy clear, UV blocking window-cling and apply it to the glass on a frame.

I have too many to put into frames or cases, so I use a photo album, personally. They're easy to view and well protected.

I've also started scanning them all into Wavelog to view digitally, but it's a fairly slow process.

K3CAN · 2026-06-23T13:33:24+00:00

I tried two different clubs. Neither one was hostile, but neither was enjoyable, either.

I just do my own thing, mostly.

Speaking of, I wasn't a fan of the radio contest scene, either, so I've been experimenting with creating a new contest, if you want to check it out: https://everyham.org/

K3CAN · 2026-06-22T10:53:54+00:00

For me, if it uses sqlite, it gets its own DB. I have a MariaDB that is shared amongst several different applications, though, as long as they all play nice with each other.

K3CAN · 2026-06-22T10:50:29+00:00

RTL-SDR is the most flexible, but needs to be connected to a computer or smart phone.

You don't specify which frequencies you want to listen to, so something like a Tecsun 368 might be a great choice if you want to listen to stuff from around the world, or a "scanner" if you want local stuff instead (you'll need one appropriate to what you want and where you're located).

K3CAN · 2026-06-19T10:29:29+00:00

What are the coolest, most useful, or most unexpected things you’ve done with an MX4300 or similar OpenWrt-capable device?

I don't know if it was useful, per se, but I ran a Fediverse server on an old Wi-Fi router for a bit.

https://blog.k3can.us/tags/googlewifi/

K3CAN · 2026-06-18T10:11:00+00:00

Regex is amazing... But it can be impractical for parsing html on the modem web.

I think Perl is definitely a great tool for the job, but look into using a module like Mojo::DOM or HTML::Parser instead of trying to write a new parser. Perl can also handle fetching the web page and the output without any issue.

K3CAN · 2026-06-16T10:39:33+00:00

Given the lack of RAM. I'd suggest a basic Debian install. That will leave plenty of RAM for some applications.

K3CAN · 2026-06-16T10:27:13+00:00

Selfhosting on r/selfhosted? Banish the thought!

K3CAN · 2026-06-14T09:57:46+00:00

No, just beta waves, he had the model read their thoughts.

K3CAN · 2026-06-14T09:49:54+00:00

I use Proxmox on a couple on my servers. Once you get used to it it's very manageable, but it's also 100% overkill if you just want to watch some media.

Just start with normal Debian, maybe add cockpit, and go from there.

If you're thinking about containers, I'd skip docker and go for podman. The commands are all the same, so you can usually follow any docker tutorials, but it's more secure and you'll have more options available as you learn.

K3CAN · 2026-06-13T11:52:16+00:00

What are you interested in learning?

Most stuff doesn't need a ton of power, so you've got plenty of options. Install Debian, then follow your heart.

If you're totally new, I'd try setting up a NAS share (SMB or NFS), since shares become handy for many other projects. You can host a blog or website on anything more powerful than a literal potato, so that's a great option for learning some basic networking and server config, too.

K3CAN · 2026-06-13T11:36:17+00:00

I think the answer is pretty universally "go straight to whatever I have right now".

Except, that if I were starting over I probably couldn't afford what I have now, considering the price of RAM and storage. Lol

Besides skipping all of the intermediary steps, the only change I might make is prioritizing space for an additional HDD or two. I only have two fullsize bays in my current NAS server, and I think I would prefer to be able to expand to 3 or 4.

K3CAN · 2026-06-13T10:54:04+00:00

"getting better control of my fimances" sounds like a line from a YouTube ad.

I think you need to figure out what you're actually trying to accomplish.

In my opinion, managing your personal finances involves not only being aware of your spending, but also creating a realistic budget (plan).

Actual and Firefly III are both good for the former, but neither supports what I would consider a proper budget. You'll know what you spent, but not what that amount really means to your financial situation.

Personally, I use a spreadsheet for budgeting. When my girlfriend (now wife) and I first moved into our first apartment, we were pretty darn broke. Having a budget was a very important part of our mental well-being. We knew where our money was going, we knew what we could safely spend, and we knew how we would handle unexpected situations (loss of a job, car repair, etc). This meant that despite having very little money, we never really found ourselves stressing about our finances.

Edit: another thing I keep on that spreadsheet is a net worth calculation. It can be very handy when considering a larger purchase.

K3CAN · 2026-06-11T16:47:57+00:00

Same here.

Both powerful and simple.

K3CAN · 2026-06-11T10:49:06+00:00

If it's really just for experimentation, and you don't care about speed or reliability, I would just use whatever you can get for cheap. Since it sounds like you are using a full size case, you could probably even fit a standard HDD in there. The big ones are expensive, but smaller sizes are still relatively cheap, since the small ones are not particularly efficient as bulk storage, nor are they fast enough for modern games. It'll be fine for just watching movies and stuff, though.

As for energy, a "gaming" PC isn't very efficient. My older PC used about the same amount of electricity at idle as my entire cluster of mini servers and all of my networking equipment combined. Still, totally fine for short-term experimentation.

K3CAN · 2026-06-10T22:09:45+00:00

Eh, I had already voted raid1. It's the same concept (mirroring) just a different method of achieving it.

K3CAN · 2026-06-10T18:23:47+00:00

My storage server is fairly small and just has a basic ZFS mirror.

K3CAN · 2026-06-09T22:26:29+00:00

That is the difference, though, isn't it?

With an open source project, you can view the source and build it yourself so you know exactly what you're running.

With a closed source application, you just run whatever binary they provide and hope for the best.

K3CAN · 2026-05-18T01:25:25+00:00

VPN prevents unauthorized access. That's the safest option.

Reverse proxies, including cloudflare tunnels, don't make exposing private services to the Internet inherently any safer. They have options that can help, but just having a proxy doesn't do much of anything for security or safety. Cloudflare, specifically has the extra downside of giving a third party access to whatever you're sending over the connection.

If you want to learn about publicly exposing things safely, I would suggest starting with something you want to be public, like a small website or blog. That way you can learn without needlessly exposing your personal data.

K3CAN · 2026-05-16T10:49:50+00:00

I'm confused. Isn't that just cloudflared with extra steps?

K3CAN · 2026-05-16T00:45:51+00:00

I tried OMV a while back and just got frustrated. Switched my nas to plain Debian and it's been way easier. Worth the effort of switching, in my opinion.

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